Facsimile
by Citruline
Summary: Natsu's strange behaviour hides a dark secret. Will Gray, Lucy and Happy be able to help him? Eventual Natsu/Gray
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

_Facsimile_

'The mission. That mission ruined everything,' Gray thought idly.

He was looking at his friend and at how _strangely_ he had been behaving ever since they had returned.

Gray hadn't been with Natsu when it had happened – he was with Lucy and they had been fighting as hard as they could against that hoard of enemies. Erza was the one with him and she hadn't seen it happen either, having been too engrossed in her own fight.

But Natsu…

Something had happened to him. He was different.

Not himself, almost.

And so here was Gray, sitting at one of the guild's tables and nursing a drink at the same time that Natsu, sitting at the counter flanked by Lucy and Happy, threw his head back and let out a guffaw. Happy was looking up confusedly and Lucy was patting the pink haired mage's arm awkwardly.

The fire mage kept laughing, so much that he lost his balance and fell off his stool.

The ruckus turned some heads of the few mages at the guild but, after a couple of beats, everybody resumed their previous activities, dismissing the event. It was just Natsu being Natsu.

But no!

It wasn't Natsu.

Gray didn't _feel_ it being Natsu.

Finishing his drink with a sigh, the ice mage prepared to leave the guild. He needed a smoke.

To hell and back that he had quit.

He really _needed_ it.

* * *

The cool night breeze greeted him, the cloudless sky from which starts twinkled and where the moon was just a thin sliver of white.

Grabbing the pack from his pocket, Gray picked up one cigarette and lit it.

The first hit of nicotine was like a welcomed wave, encompassing his limbs and firing up his neurons.

Letting out the smoke, the ice mage saw it rise and disperse amidst the darkness above, from where the glow issuing from the guild's windows didn't reach. The iridescent tip glowing slowly.

'Much better,' Gray thought, leaning against the guild's wall. His slightly muddled mind seemed to clear slightly for he started feeling that he could think better now.

Rolling the cigarette between his fingers, Gray saw the ashes falling away into the gentle breeze that had started blowing. He stared into the glowing tip – it was consuming and warm reminded him of Natsu.

Shock coursed through him as if he had been struck by lightning.

That was it – Natsu!

Where was his characteristic warmth, his glow?

It was missing, that was for sure, but how could they have missed that? It was such a basic thing that it was dumb to-

All of his bluster. It had covered up somewhat because there was so much going on with him lately that one didn't have time to notice what was underneath.

Besides.

Natsu hadn't provoked Gray – well, teased – since they had gotten back…

Why wouldn't he when it was something so natural and-

Wait. Did Natsu even have his magic? They hadn't fought and he hadn't shown his magic ever since…

'Nonsense,' he instantly brushed the thought aside. 'We would have noticed,' he blew out more smoke, 'we're not that-'

He froze. The cigarette slipping between his now lax fingers, spreading little interspersed bits of light when it hit the ground.

The guild was half empty. The Master, for instance, had gone to meet with the masters of other guilds and, just, so many others were away.

And Gray, Lucy and Happy – who had stayed behind – were too blind to realize what was off.

Which was stupid and unexplainable since they were the ones closest to him.

How could they have not realized it?

Gray straightened up, stepping on the stub and heading resolutely back to the guild.

He entered the space and instantly zeroed in on Natsu who was standing and chatting excitedly, arms moving expansively, as a way to empathize his point.

Gray walked over, unconsciously freezing his hands.

He stopped right behind the fire mage, Lucy noticing him.

"Gray-" she started.

Without saying a word, Gray grasped Natsu's forearms and from his hands ice started to form instantly.

There was no steam, noticed the ice mage startled. No. There was no reaction at all.

Natsu was just standing, cradled in between his arms.

"What the-?" Lucy exclaimed, getting up.

Gray turned Natsu forcefully around, hands grasping tightly on to the other's shoulders. He glared.

"Who the hell are you and what have you done to Natsu?" he growled.

The face that stared back at him was blank.

"What do you mean?" he asked in a monotone.

"Answer me!" Gray shook the person he was pinning. "What have you done to Natsu?"

The person's face scrunched up momentarily before the eyes rolled to the back of his head and the body fell, limply, against Gray.

"What the-!" Gray stumbled due to the unexpected weight, making them both fall to the ground.

"What now, Gray? Could you explain what has just happened?"

"Yeah, Gray, what happened to Natsu?" Happy asked from where he was hovering by Natsu's head.

Running a hand through his hair, Gray shook his head, in a wary motion. Steadying himself he looked up and replied.

"Look, I don't know how but, this isn't Natsu," he looked down at the form that was draped over his legs.

"What?!" was his reply.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so I felt like posting this story. It's been under works for a while and I basically just decided to post it.

As you might see there's plenty of room to continue but, I don't know... For one, it won't get in my priorities if there's no interest shown so, yeah... Let's see where it goes, people.

Besides, my dearest beta, K, doesn't know I'm doing this. She'll definitely kick my arse once she finds out, since I wasn't supposed to post or update anything until I finished the bunch of stories on my plate. Oh well... :P But yeah, that's just to say that this is unbetaed and that the mistakes and stuff are _all_ mine. Hopefully nobody was scarred. xD

Anyway, reviews are awesome. *winks*


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail.

* * *

The windows of the carriage rattled as the train moved. There was noise and there were some slight bumps of the carriage on the rails.

Gray was sat by the window, arms crossed, feet planted firmly on the floorboard and his jaw clenched. His eyes weren't visible due to his bangs covering them but he had his head tilted slightly to the window, which meant that he might be looking through it. On his left side was Lucy, sitting and staring forward, hands clenched on her lap.

The figures residing on the seat opposite them caught both Gray and Lucy's attention, though.

Natsu – or the person they thought was Natsu – was lying on the cushy seat, still unconscious but the group had previously joked (albeit very tensely) that at least there would be no groans due to the motion sickness.

Happy was by Natsu's side, lying down for the moment.

No-one had said a word since the train had started moving but the silence was heavy – one could cut it with a knife.

So, as the landscape outside the window quickly faded as it was engulfed by night's greedy fingers, the three friends began to relax – just a tiny bit. The strain was getting to be too much for their bodies. Before they knew it, they were asleep.

* * *

Gray started, blinking and looking around. It was dark, too dark since there should be some lights in the carriage.

Feeling himself being gripped by an unexplainable anxiety Gray slowly closed his hand around Lucy's shoulder but frowned when she didn't react when he gave it a little shake. He shook it harder and gasped when her body slipped from the seat and fell heavily to the ground.

"Lucy…" he said breathlessly. Then he turned to Happy who was curler around by Natsu's head. He touched him and noticed that the little furry body was cold. "Hey, Happy!" He grabbed the blue cat and placed him on his side and tried to shake him awake, but it was all for naught.

A muffled groan brought him from his musings, making the ice mage turn to its source – which was Natsu.

"N-Natsu? Are you awake- are you okay?"

There was a reply that was muffled by the cushion but it turned into laughter which became more and more clear as Natsu straightened and sat up.

Eyes that were completely white stared at Gray from his friend's face. He was still laughing as blood started running down his face.

Shock locked Gray's muscles making him unable to move and condemning him to watch as his friend's body started to fall apart before his own eyes.

"It's scary, isn't it?" asked a familiar voice from the train's aisle.

Gray's head turned sharply in that direction. What he saw made his mouth fall. It was… another Natsu – a translucent Natsu – who was standing on the aisle, hand poised on the back of the seat where broken-Natsu was still laughing, now shrilly.

Mayhem exploded around Gray. There was a blast somewhere in his surroundings and blood started flowing, reaching Lucy's body on the wooden floor at the same time that some splattered Happy's fur and hit Gray's face and chest. It burned but not even that was able to turn Gray's attention from the figure he knew was the Salamander. He seemed so uncharacteristically sad, gazing at the unfortunate mess that was happening to his body. When he turned his eyes towards Gray, the latter could feel anguish well in the most deep recesses of his being. Natsu had never looked so desolate, in all the time they had known each other. It broke Gray's heart.

When the fire mage's lips moved, the words intoned were filled with the same sadness portrayed by the translucent body.

"It seems that I'm lost." His eyes descended to look at the gory mess on the seat, before focusing on Gray again. "Will you find me?"

Before Gray could say anything, the floor shook violently and broke, sending a cloud of smoke to the world.

* * *

Gray started, blinking and looking around. Darkness had descended upon the carriage but small lamps lit the space at regular intervals.

Things were the same as before he had fallen asleep.

The ice mage heaved a relieved sigh. It had all been a dream. Just a dream.

Seconds after he had thought that, Happy and Lucy jolted awake and tried to regain their breaths.

"Are you okay?" Gray asked.

"Let me… just, let me…" Lucy gasped out, holding her shirt. "I just had a terrible nightmare."

"Aye, so did I," said Happy, flying to lie on the small space between the two mages' tights. His fur was raised.

"You… did?" Gray mumbled, surprised.

"Yes! It was Natsu-"

"And chaos was everywhere! All around us-"

"He was sad-"

"Natsu told me he was lost…" Gray stated in a hollow tone.

"Yes!" Lucy and Happy all but shouted in unison, mindless of the other passengers on the carriage. Some annoyed "Shut up, will you?" followed the outburst.

Guiltily, Lucy continued, now in a low voice.

"Natsu wanted us to find him."

"He didn't seem himself," Happy interjected. "I never saw Natsu that sad."

The three nodded and looked at the unconscious body in front of them.

"I hope it doesn't take long before we reach the place…" Gray said, finally.

And he really couldn't. His hand was already reaching unconsciously towards his pocket and his blood was singing his need.

Damn it! He needed a smoke – _again_. But that need was being overpowered by a huge bad feeling at what might happen if he let this Natsu out of his sight.

Leaning his forehead against the cool glass of the window, Gray breathed deeply and urged the train to go faster, at the same time that his fingers tapped restlessly against his leg.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait for this installment. Anyway, I don't know where this story is going. I had my idea but it seems that the boys have other ideas altogether… We'll see where this goes…

Once again, K hasn't seen this so, all the mistakes and typos are mine. I apologize for them…

Reviews are still awesome… :P


End file.
